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November 26, 2018/Press Release, Clean Energy/Business Forward President Jim Doyle released the following statement on General Motors’ announcement that it will idle four U.S. factories and plants:
“GM and every other automaker producing cars and trucks in the U.S. have warned Congress about the impact of President Trump’s trade wars, which raised our cost of doing business and closed foreign markets. Months ago, GM put the cost of Trump’s tariffs at $1 billion and predicted ‘less investment, fewer jobs, and lower wages.’ With...

Suzanne Fitzgeraldhttps://www.businessfwd.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/BF-stacked-logo-copy.pngSuzanne Fitzgerald2018-11-26 23:14:372018-11-27 15:56:21General Motors’ announces that it will idle U.S. factories: Statement by Business Forward President Jim Doyle

September 19, 2018/Press Release, Clean Energy/WASHINGTON, D.C. —Business Forward issued a report today outlining “Four Tough Questions About Renewable Energy – And the Answers the Next Governor of New York Should Know.” This report accompanies testimony from 1,100 New York business leaders demanding the state do more to increase clean energy production.
“As the next Governor sets his priorities for the next four years, he should keep in mind that New York imports more than $50 billion in coal, oil, and gas each year,” said Jim...

Suzanne Fitzgeraldhttps://www.businessfwd.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/BF-stacked-logo-copy.pngSuzanne Fitzgerald2018-09-19 18:04:422018-11-30 21:36:354 Tough Questions on Renewable Energy: Business Forward Report to Next Governor of New York

September 19, 2018/Press Release, Clean Energy/Business leaders across New York urge the support for inclusive clean energy.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Last month, Business Forward asked business leaders across New York to tell us what their state should do to become a leader in clean energy production. More than 1,100 signed a letter to New York policymakers demanding the state do more to increase clean energy production and create clean energy jobs. Another 300 provided specific recommendations. The business leaders wrote:
“The $50 billion...

August 28, 2018/Clean Energy, Climate Change/Suzanne FitzgeraldThis week, the Trump Administration announced plans to eliminate the Clean Power Plan (CPP), an Obama-era policy to reduce carbon emissions. Under the new plan, states may write their own regulations for coal-fired power plants–or write none at all. This is a drastic shift away from the CPP, which pushed the energy industry toward clean energy sources like wind and solar.
Hundreds of business leaders have told us that they experienced losses due to severe weather affecting their supply chains...

May 14, 2018/Clean Energy, Infrastructure, Workforce Development/Lexie BriggsU.S. energy employment accounted for 162,000 new jobs in 2017, according to a new report out from the Energy Futures Initiative (EFI) and the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) The 2018 U.S. Energy and Employment Report (USEER) tracks changes in U.S. energy employment unaccounted for in the Bureau of Labor’s statistics.
The report analyzes employment data across the “four sectors of the labor market,” said David Foster during a briefing for Business Forward’s...

May 10, 2018/Clean Energy/Lexie Briggs and Suzanne FitzgeraldEarlier this month, the Energy Futures Initiative (EFI) released the 2018 U.S. Energy and Employment Report (USEER). Over the past year, overall energy employment has grown by 162,000 jobs and highlighted some interesting trends.
Although it was issued by the EFI, the report uses the same methodology and data sets as the 2016 and 2017 USEERs, from the U.S. Department of Energy, with additional data from BW Research, a non-partisan applied research firm. In Q3 2017, new leadership at DOE...

April 26, 2018/Clean Energy, Climate Change/Jim DoyleCritics of the Clean Power Plan argue it will increase electricity costs so much that companies operating here in the U.S. will shift their jobs to China. The local business leaders with whom we work see it differently. Nineteen out of 20 of them support the Clean Power Plan, because the immediate cost of switching from coal to cleaner energy is far smaller than the current cost of severe weather-driven by climate change. Over time, those weather costs will grow.
Any discussion of increased...

https://www.businessfwd.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/7004881064_396d336bdf_o.jpg31684752actualize studiohttps://www.businessfwd.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/BF-stacked-logo-copy.pngactualize studio2018-04-26 21:11:412018-04-26 21:13:09Doing the Math on the Clean Power Plan

March 2, 2018/Clean Energy, Climate Change/Lexie BriggsAppropriate risk management could be a lasting solution to climate change, according to Robert Litterman, former head of risk management for Goldman Sachs. “The risk of climate change is not currently being priced,” Litterman said in a briefing with business leaders this week. “As a result, globally, humans are taking on too much risk.”
We do not know the full capacity of the atmosphere to absorb carbon emissions, Litterman said, but we do know “whatever remaining capacity exists, it...

November 9, 2017/Access to Capital, Clean Energy, Climate Change, Federal Spending, Health Care, Immigration/Jim Doyle, PresidentIt’s been a year since President Trump’s election, and I have been reflecting on what has changed and how we at Business Forward have adapted. I’d like to take this opportunity to update you on our work.
First, business leader engagement is up. For eight years, our mission has been to “help local business leaders fix Washington by bringing Washington to them.” Naturally, we worried dysfunction here in Washington this past year would depress interest. We were wrong. By every measure,...

January 18, 2017/Clean Energy/Introduction
Over the past two years, Business Forward has organized dozens of energy and climate briefings for business leaders across the country. At these briefings, policymakers met with executives from energy companies. In each case, the discussion focused on four key questions:
Can wind and solar compete with coal and natural gas on price, at scale?
Is it reliable?
Are government subsidies distorting the market?
Is America still leading on energy?
Testimonies from energy executives at...